Membership Letters

Your Local Bargaining Committee met with the Employer on October 29th to exchange local bargaining proposals. The Union has applied for a No Board and on November 18th and 20th, we will negotiate with the Employer to hopefully secure a tentative agreement at the local level.

I am proud to tell you all that, after 27 long hours of negotiations with the government, your Provincial Bargaining Committee has reached a tentative agreement. I’m sure everyone is relieved to hear that our Work To Rule has now ceased. Details of this new agreement will be revealed very soon at a Special Meeting which will be announced shortly.

A tentative deal has been reached between the Ontario government and Canadian Union of Public Employees education workers, effectively ending their work-to-rule action in school across the province.

The union, which represents 55,000 education workers in schools across the province, said the deal had been reached with the Crown and the Council of Trustee Associations in central talks Monday. CUPE members have been without a contract since August 31, 2014 but the union said the tentative agreement covers education workers in all four school board systems, including English public and Catholic and French public and Catholic.

Details of the settlement will not be released until members have reviewed and voted on the deal.

Education Minister Liz Sandals said in a statement that she was “pleased” a deal had been reached, adding that the workers played an integral role in keeping schools safe and clean.

“CUPE has agreed to stop job action pending ratification of the agreement. The agreement recognizes the important work that education support workers do every day in our schools”, she said in a statement. “This is the first agreement reached with education workers under The School Boards Collective Bargaining Act. I would like to congratulate all parties involved in reaching this historic agreement”.

Sandals said “determination and hard-work prevailed” and that the agreement is consistent with the government’s net-zero bargaining framework, which means any salary increases are counterbalanced through the collective agreement.

She added that she could not comment on specific terms at this time since the agreement is still subject to ratification.

Your Provincial Bargaining Committee met with the government on October 26th and 27th to try to negotiate a fair and respectful collective agreement . We continue to deal with contentious issues “on the table” which we are attempting to address. We remain in Toronto today, and will continue to sit at the table through Sunday if necessary. I will post any public information available for our members on this site as soon as it is released. Please keep checking for updated information.

We have spent the last 14 months without a Collective Agreement. As I am sure you are aware this has been an extremely tough round of negotiations. Together we have been prepared to take job action if necessary in order to fight for wage increases, a collective agreement without concessions, job security and respect.

This week our Central Bargaining Committee continues to negotiate to reach a fair collective agreement. The effects of our escalation in job action (Work to Rule) is being felt throughout the province and is having the effect at the central table that we were hoping for. With that said, it may become necessary to escalate our job action further if concessions remain on the bargaining table or in the event that School Boards move to change our working conditions, such as reducing our pay.

In the event that a decision is made to move to “Off the Job Strike Action”, the following are a few suggestions to better help you and your family prepare.

Fill all prescriptions, including children and spouse prior to strike action commencing, as well as attending any para professional appointments in advance of strike action (Optometrist, Physiotherapist, Massage Therapy);

Avoid large purchases;

Talk to your financial institute, make arrangements for loans and mortgages in the event of strike action;

Call your local union for further information

We understand how difficult these times have been for you and want to assure you that your local and CUPE are here to support and answer any questions you may have.

This morning Jim Morrison (OSBCC CUPE Coordinator), Fred Hahn (President, CUPE Ontario) and Terri Preston (OSBCC Chair) attended a meeting with the Premier, the Minister of Education, ETFO, OSSTF and representatives of the four Trustee Associations.

The Premier started the meeting by saying she wanted to recognize the current situation has not been easy on anyone. She said all four Trustee Associations had sent letters to the Minister of Education asking the Minister for the authority to respond to our strikes. (Under the School Board Collective Bargaining Act, school boards cannot engage in lockouts, changes of working conditions or other actions available to employers without first getting the approval of the Crown).

The Premier said while she has received the letter, she is not acting their request yet. She has asked both the Unions and the Trustee Associations to get back to bargaining and try to get collective agreements over the next 8 days (by November 1st)

Should there not be agreements reached by that time, either of two things could happen, the Unions can pull back from their strike action and continue bargaining or she will give permission for the Trustees Associations to respond to the strikes allowing the Trustee Associations to give 5 days notice of whatever action they would plan to take.

The bargaining committee has been clear throughout this process that we need a Collective Agreement which shows respect for our work and addresses the specific needs of education workers. Threats will not change this but rather will only strengthen our resolve.

We have completed two weeks of Work to Rule and YES, we are making an impact. Not just in our own local, but locals across Ontario. This week, myself and the rest of the Provincial Bargaining Committee are in Toronto attempting to secure a fair Collective Agreement for you. We need to keep the pressure on, and follow the Work to Rule sanctions. Keeping with the sanctions is putting the pressure on local school boards and in turn, they are putting the pressure on their Provincial Bargaining team to start meaningful bargaining. We are here and prepared to bargain!

As we continue to bargain with Phase Two in full swing, the Provincial Bargaining Support team is preparing for Phase Three, and Phase Three is rotating strikes. The Provincial Strike Headquarters is fully set up and prepared, and strategies are being made as I write to you. I will provide details as they become available.

This week the Union was informed that Area Supervisors and Maintenance Supervisors could be coming into your schools and sweeping halls and entrance ways on a case by case basis. They will also be emptying outside garbage cans. This will not be a regular/daily occurrence.

I would like to challenge each and every member of our proud Local 4153 with the following: #41 of our Work to Rule instructions states “Ask your Area Supervisor and/or Principal or other managers/supervisors for detailed work requests in writing”. So, if they come and ask you to do something…ask them to put it in detailed writing. With solidarity in mind, I hereby challenge each of you to do this for the rest of the week.

Please continue to check the website for updated bargaining information. This is the easiest and quickest way for the Executive and Negotiating Committees to communicate information to you. It comes fast and we want all members informed. If you have any questions or concerns please call any member of your Executive or Negotiating Committees.